. hello. thank you for joining us. i'm jc hayward. hurricane sandy could hit the united states as early as this weekend. the storm is important for at least two deaths after it pounded jamaica, haiti and cuba

with massive flooding and winds over 110 miles an hour. where is the storm? howard has been tracking it. he joins us now with the latest. howard? >> jc, it hit jamaica yesterday and then cuba last night. this morning into the afternoon hours now in the central bahamas. looks like the central and northern bahamas will get the battering from sandy over the next 24 hours. it is not as impressive as it was just before it hit cuba but it's starting to flair up a little bit more now that it's generally over water as opposed to land. tropical systems like water. gusting to 125. this is down a little bit. we're seeing the pressure up a little bit. rising pressure, weakening storm. so you want to watch that number, 964. by tomorrow morning we could still have a category 1, 90 miles an hour winds. the hurricane center believes this will slowly weaken as it kind of parallels the u.s. coast here as we go through the weekend. sunday morning east of wilmington, north carolina. it's going to be a battering of

wave action, some winds, rain along the coast. as we get into sunday night, monday, looks like it may start getting over toward us. here we are monday morning east of hatteras and elizabeth city. this is the concern beyond that. the turn to the northwest is what we're looking at. and the center of the potential path brings it over toward new jersey potentially as we get into tuesday ternoon, tuesday evening. so new york, long island would get that. we'de on the weaker side. we're still inthat cone of uncertainty. if this thing tracks a little farther west, a little farther southwest, that would up our threat potential. we're going to watch it. it's very close to comfort levels or noncomfort levels. we'll be tracking this for the rest of the week and the weekend with the very latest on every newscast and online. jc, back to you. >> thank you very much, huward. sand -- howard. sandy's effects are being felt along the southern coast of the united states. danielle nottingham has more from melbourne, florida where residents are bracing for the

worst. >> reporter: hurricane sandy kicked off powerful waves and rip currents off florida's atlantic coast. residents are preparing for tropical storm force wind and possible flooding as the hurricane moves overnight into friday. >> i think it's going to be a big one. i just hope it doesn't hit us too hard here. >> reporter: florida is not expected to take a direct hit from sandy, but the off shore hurricane should still bring heavy rain and wind gusts over 50 miles an hour. some schools along the coast will be closed tomorrow. sandy claimed the lives of at least two people as it pounded jamaica, haiti and cuba with flooding and winds over 110 miles per hour. where the storm hits the u.s. is still uncertain. it is expected to travel up the east coast and could collide with rain from the west, and arctic air from the north creating a nor'easter hurricane hybrid. >> we're talking about a confluence of events here.

would you have storm force winds, coastal flooding, very heavy inland snows could be possible. >> reporter: meteorologists say the worst-case scenario is that a super storm forms in the atlantic and then boomergs toward land. >> we saw kind of a similar thing with the perfect storm in 1991. we could see something similar with this. >> reporter: sandy is expected to make landfall somewhere between virginia and canada. that could happen as soon as sunday night. danielle nottingham, cbs news, melbourne beach, florida. power companies in new jersey are already putting workers on alert to deal with possible power outages. this morning a coaching legend from montgomery county turned himself into police after being charged with sexually abusing a former athlete. rick curl, founder of the burke- curl swim club is now in police custody. kristin fisher joins us with

more information. >> reporter: rick curl is expected to make his first court appearance in one hour right here in montgomery county. he is charged with one count of child abuse for allegedly sexually abusing a teenage girl that he used to coach 30 years ago. a former olympic swim coach is accused of inappropriately touching the victim starting when she was just 13 years old. montgomery county police say the abuse progressed into an inappropriate sexual relationship about two years later. the victim is now 43. curl is 63. he's already been banned from the sport for life by u.s.a. swimming. that happened last month. the legendary swim club that he started in montgomery county, the curl-burke swim club has been renamed the nation's capital swim club. now he's facing criminal charges. the most immediate question facing the judge is will curl be granted bond. his hearing is set for 1:00. in rockville, i'm kristin fisher, 9news now. we have just learned that

curl is not expected to be in court today. but right now he is being held on $50,000 bond and we could learn the date of his preliminary hearing later this afternoon. right now supporters and opponents of the same-sex marriage referendum are planning a rally to be held at gallaudet university in the district. it appears that they are joining forces. both groups want angela mccaskill reinstated as the school's chief diversity officer. surae chinn joins us now from the university. >> reporter: jc, the protests just got under way in front of gallaudet university here at 8th and florida avenue northeast. you can see protesters here holding signs saying they do want angela mccaskill reinstated here as the chief diversity officer here at the campus of gallaudet university. they are here for a common purpose again as you mentioned. we also have a guest here who

organized this event. we have reverend delmond coates from clinton, maryland. tell us why you organized this event. >> we organized the event to express support for dr. angela mccaskill. the chief diversity officer was placed on leave for merely signing a petition to sent the civil marriage protect act to a public vote. people have a right to their personal views and opinions whether we agree or disagree with them. we are urging university officials to reinstate dr. mccaskill without any future reprisal. >> reporter: reverend dante hicks also here from baltimore. tell me why you're able to organize both people for and against gay marriage? >> because at the root of question six is fairness. it is not about supporting the rights of one majority or minority over another. it's not about trading impression but standing on both

sides of citizens to have fair and equal justice. >> reporter: we'll have much more on this issue. the protest continues. we'll stick around and have much more coming up at 5:00, 6:00 and 7:00. i'm surae chinn in northeast, 9news. the presidential candidates keep up their sprint through the battleground states. i'm tara mergener at the white house with the story coming up. >> when it comes to elections you care most about what happens closest to home. so i'm crisscrossing the region to cover the election most important, yours and those hot button issues tonight at 11:00.

the presidential election is 12 days away and both candidates are in the battleground state. a new associated press poll of likely voters shows governor romney has an advantage among women. tara mergener reports the president has nearly erased romney's advantage with men. >> reporter: the campaign blitz

started before dawn. he delivered donuts to florida firefighters and rallied supporters in tampa. after stopping in four battleground states wednesday, the president hits three more today. he'll also travel to illinois where early voting is under way. >> i can't tell you who i'm voting for. it's a secret ballot. but michele says she voted for me. >> reporter: a prominent republican said on cbs this morning he also plans to vote for president obama. >> i voted for him in 2008 and i plan to stick with him in 2012 and i'll be voting for he and for vice president joe biden next month. >> reporter: for republican challenger mitt romney to win the white house, he'll need victories in several battleground states. today he's focused on winning ohio. the governor greeted voters at a cincinnati cafe this morning. he'll spend the whole day in the critical state working to sway the few remaining undecided voters. >> we recognize this is a year with a big choice and the americans want to see big

changes and i'm going to bring it to this country. >> reporter: no republican has ever won the election without winning ohio. polls still show president obama with a slight edge in the state. >> quote, get out there and start voting right now. >> reporter: ohio has early voting and part of romney's job today will be urging his supporters to vote now. tara mergener for cbs news, the white house. this election could be the most expensive ever because the two campaigns have already raised over $1 billion. howard of course is keeping his eye on his weather maps and specifically sandy. we'll have his forecast next. >> jc, outside on the weather terrace stuck with the clouds. but for late october to be in the 6 and and 7 -- 60s and 70s, not bad at all. we'll take a look at south florida and some of the battering surf hitting the miami area as sandy continues to head for the bahamas.

i've been combing through date's e-mails and retailer websites to find you some deep discounts. gilt city wants to help you go to the show. they're offering free concert tickets to shows in d.c. and philly. prices range from $62 all the way to $110. today is world pasta today.

buca di beppa restaurant is giving away free 135 get -- free spaghetti with your choice of marinara. if you dine today, they'll send you home with free pasta and a coupon for your next visit. there are two locations in our area. 122 kentlands boulevard in gaithersburg and in the district at 1825 connecticut avenue northwest. after eating pasta, you might want to have a little bit of a food coma break. maybe a comfortable place to rest. sears has a deal on a la-z-boy recliner. you can buy one today for $499.99 plus free shipping. this model normally sells for just below 1200 bucks. if you have a deal if our viewers, i would love to hear from you on facebook. i'm jessica doyle, 9news now. we're concerned about sandy. is it going to touch us and if so when? >> it probably will. the questions we v we don't know how much we're going to get from this storm. we don't know if we're just going to get a glancing blow or

maybe more of a direct hit. if it happen it is will be late sunday, more likely monday maybe into as late as tuesday. i think monday will be the key day at this point with this storm for us. but it could linger for a couple of days. it's going to be a big storm, even if it doesn't hit us, it's going to be a big storm. might be a big storm in the northeast. it may get up to maine. it might crunch places like long island and new jersey. this is what we'll have to figure out the next couple of days. close enough to us that we have to keep our guard up. i'll start once again with sandy in case you weren't here at the top of our broadcast. it crossed cuba last night. it's moving into the bahamas and it has lost a little bit of umph. it really exploded. yesterday this went from a category 1 to about a category 3 just before landfall in cuba. now it's a category 2 storm which is still a dangerous and deadly storm. and it is tracking up through the central bahamas here and it's going to be kind of parallelling the bahamas and the u.s. coast for the next couple of daitz. winds -- days.

winds 105 miles per hour sustained with gusts to 125 moving north at 16. we'll continue to watch this. again cut across the bahamas just on the east side which if there's any positive news, the west side of the storm is the weaker side of the storm. the winds are coming in parallel or with the storm itself with the forward motion so they tend to be a little stronger on the right side of the storm. this will slowly weaken to a category 1 storm and turn away from florida, parallel the south and north care coasts. here we are sunday morning, still a hurricane, 75 mile an hour sustained winds. cape hatteras far enough off shore that it shouldn't be too bad but wind and rain and heavy surf pounding the carolina coast. then the mid-atlantic. this is the concern. this thing is going to take a turn back towards the west. but is it going to take that turn down here? is it going to wait till it gets to massachusetts or maybe maine? right now best guest is

potentially up toward new jersey. maybe new york. this should be devastating to new york and long island and northern areas on the jersey coast. for us, we would be on the better side. however, this track is likely to differ some over the next few days. if it gets farther south and west, then the threat to our area beaches and even closer to the metro will go up. if it goes farther east and north, that threat goes down. going to be a big dangerous storm. the wind field is going to expand. even though it might not be a hurricane, we could have tropical storm force winds extending 300 miles from the center of this storm, whatever it more ofs into it as it -- morphs into as it gets into the northern latitudes. lots of clouds around. they'll slowly break up, especially south and west of town. with luck we'll get to 72. if the clouds hang tough, we'll stay in the 60s. tonight 68 by 7:00. back in the mid-70s by 9:00. we'll go cloudy again tonight. more drizzle and fog most likely will develop because we have the easterly push. look at the low clouds in the blue ridge. fredricksburg north all the way

into new england with these low clouds and fog with the flow off the atlantic. where the clouds are thicker, temperatures only in the low to mid-60s like baltimore 63. it's 62 in gaithersburg. get into the sunsun, lure -- sunshine, luray 73. at the tappahannock airport 74 degrees. tysons corner, we got the low clouds. we're still socked in on our michael & son weather camera with 64. east, southeast winds at 5. dew points in the upper 50s and the humidity is high. got some cold air out to the rockies. warm air out east in the mississippi. this in and of itself would be enough to generate the storm. if the cold air gets closer to the coast, you can see the rain changing to the snow, by the way, as it gets closer to the coast, it will be the combination. the warm atlantic and the cold air that will help morph this into a tropical storm into a hybrid system that we'll be dealing w. clouds dissipate some this afternoon. they return tonight with more

fog, some drizzle. tomorrow we'll try to get the clouds out of here in the afternoon. some afternoon sung. then on sunday -- sun. then on saturday, front comes towards us. on sunday looks like some of the moisture may be here from sandy. tonight in the 50s, drizzle and fog. afternoon sun, 71. saturday 68 degrees with an isolated afternoon shower. saturday looks like the much better day of the weekend. by sunday 60. some rain develops monday, tuesday. just depends on exactly what happens with sandy and it looks like a chilly halloween. by the way, you can download our weather app and track sandy on your iphone, ipad, android device. text sandy to 25543. we'll be back with 9 news now at noon in just a moment.

today i'm one on one with

joe gallagher, a certified financial planner from lpl financial. interesting report by "wall street journal." more than 80 major corporations, u.s. corporations, are calling on congress to cut the deficit by increasing taxes. this is an amazing story because they're talking about corporate taxes to increase. what's your response to that? >> it is shocking. the corporations have come out from the side of holding back the taxes till recently. i think this is partially a reaction to sort of the negative views of corporate america. what they're calling for is -- they want us to rego down the path and look at booth but the part that is shocking is the revenue side, increasing corporate taxes and not just the spending. it is very interesting and shows them at least putting an

olive branch for both administrations that they're going to be willing to work. >> does it matter who gets elected to the white house? >> both of them have their problems. you have the republicans who obviously -- grover norquest has been a big republican icon and is going to cause problems with the fiscal cliff and no new taxes. of course you have on the spending side, there's a lot of commitments for us to get social programs and things like that properly funded. i think this is sort of showing regardless who wins that corporate america will be behind some sort of unified decision between the two parties. >> the new year, what about investments? which way should we go now? >> the fiscal cliff is one thing that keeps it going. let me explain briefly what that is. last year republicans and democrats -- i know this is major news -- couldn't get along and agree on anything. they basically said a year from

now we'll have over a thousand government programs get cut and all these taxes get reversed. the big one is the 2% payroll tax that affects all of us. but there's also a litany of other taxes that get affected. this is now a year. after the election, they're sort of forced to make these decisions. my personal opinion is and this is a little pessimistic is they'll not be able to get anything figured out. they're going to go another year at least and say oh, the economy is too bad. we can't make these dramatic changes. >> just a standstill. >> i hope that's not true. the good news about that being true is both things hurt. tax cuts -- tax increases hurt and of course less government spending hurts. either of those happening should slow the economy which is bad for financial planners like myself. and for all of us as investors. either are bad. this is a problem that needs to be solved at some point. >> joe gallagher, financial planner with lpl.

thank you for your take on our situation. >> always a pleasure. we thank you for being with us. please come back and visit us at 5:00 p.m. don't forget to go to jchayward.com. have a great day. bye-bye.